starpowerfandomcom-20200214-history
Mystery at the Lampton
"Are you ready to go to New York for the week?" mom asked me on the plane. "Yeah! I can't wait to see Times Square for the first time," I replied. My name is Monica Kane. My family and I are going on vacation to New York City. We're staying at the Lampton hotel. I have a younger sister, Alexandra, and a younger brother, Aaron. "I want to see the Statue of Liberty. I wonder what it looks like in person," Alexandra said. When we arrived at the airport, we got our luggage, then took the taxi to the hotel. We checked in, and then us kids ran straight to the elevator. We couldn't wait to see our suite. When dad opened the door, we all rushed in. "Oh my gosh, it's gorgeous!" Alexandra said. "Look at the TV!" Aaron said, as he gazed at the 42-inch plasma screen. We unpacked, and then went down to the lobby to leave for lunch. But then, the lights went off. It was a mysterious power outage, lasting exactly 9 seconds. "Oh my gosh, the painting! It's gone!" the manager yelled. "Oh dear, that's a historic painting!" a guest added. "It must have been a burglary!" Alexandra realized. "Yeah, that explains the power outage!" I said. "We should solve this! I love mysteries," Alexandra suggested. ""That's a fantastic idea! It would be fun to find out who stole the painting," Aaron added. "Let's start by learning about the painting. Aaron and I will talk to the manager, and Alexandra, you can look where the painting was stolen," I instructed. "The painting of the hotel is from 1853, the year the hotel opened," the manager told us. "It means a lot to the hotel. The owner will be furious!" "So how can we help?" Aaron asked. "You can investigate by asking other hotel guests what they saw," the manager said. "And then you can look for evidence." "So we'll start by intervewing the guests," I said. Meanwhile, Alexandra was inspecting where the painting was stolen. "Alex, have you found anything yet?" "No, not really. What did the manager say?" Alexandra asked. "We need to interview the guests," Aaron said. We then lined up all the guests and asked them questions. We didn't find out much until we met a man named Jack Anderson. He recognized the 2 people. "I knew the guy who stole the painting. I think his name was something like Martin Jacobson. I worked with him when I lived here 14 years ago," he said. "I think he was with his brother. I think they robbed a store before. I'm not surprised they would do this." When we found this information, we searched Martin Jacobson on the internet. It took some time to find the real one. We saw his online profile, and found out a lot about him. "He lives in Chestnut Apartment complex here in Manhattan," Aaron said. "We need to find him," Alexandra said. "That could be unsafe! What if he does something to us?" I asked. "Monica's right! What if this man is dangerous?" mom asked. "We need to get the painting back," Alexandra said. "No matter how hard it is." PART 2 (continued) "I'm not so sure about this," I said at luinch that afternoon. "Yeah, Alexandra, maybe we should let someone else handle this," dad added. "Should we call the police?" Aaron asked. "That's a good idea. We can tell the police the information that we've found and they can help us," I suggested. "Yeah, let's do that!" Alexandra agreed. We went shopping after lunch, and then when we got back to the hotel, mom called the police. They said they would meet us at the apartment complex. We took a taxi to the complex, and we saw three police cars. "OK, tell us what you know," the police officer said. "A guest said the man's name was Martin Jacobson. According to our information, he has been involved in past burglaries. We know he lives here," I said. We went inside and asked the concierge for his room number. "Room 6D on the sixth level," she replied. We took the elevator, and then the police officer knocked on the door. Martin opened the door. "Hands up!" the officer yelled. PART 3 "What, what? What's going on?" he asked. "We know what you did!" the officer said. "How'd you find out? It was completely dark!" he said. "So you admit it," I interrupted. "What? No! What was dark?" "The Lampton Hotel. You stole the painting of the hotel from 1853," Aaron said. "OK, I have nothing else to hide it. I stole it. But...but, the painting's at my brother's house! He's getting ready to sell it to some guy in Greenland," he confessed. "Officer, he could be lying! Inspect the apartment," I whispered. We had the officers inspect the apartment, until they found the painting. PART 4 "This is it! The manager gave me a picture. This is it, without a doubt," Alexandra said. "So he had the painting all along," the officer added. "Okay, so we'll talk to him. You guys should just wait in the hall and we'll be out in a few minutes," the officer said. "Aaron and Alexandra, you guys stay in the hall. I'm gonna help the officers," I whispered. "Tell us what happened when you're done," Aaron said. "I promise I will, just don't listen from behind the door or outside the windows or something," I said. "We won't!" Alexandra told me. "Aaron, we are so listening from behind the door," she softly whispered. "But Monica said-" "I never promised, I just said we won't," Alexandra interrupted. "You guys, go out in the hall," I said. "Mr. Jacobson, care to explain why this painting was in your bedroom?" the officer questioned. "Um... well, my brother is going out of town... and I needed to watch it!" "Are you that bad at lying? Because you said he was getting ready to sell it to a man in Greenland," the officer said. "Well, okay, he was just helping me. All he did was turn off the lights," Martin admitted. "Well, sir, you do have quite the honesty, but that is no reason not to arrest you," the officer said. "This is a serious case of burglary." "Okay, Monica, can I trust you to take this back to the Lampton safely?' the other officer asked. "Of course. I can keep it in good hands," I replied. "Thanks for your help. You solved a pretty big crime." "Well, it was an awesome experience," I said. I grabbed Aaron and Alexandra as I left the apartment. "You guys?! I told you not to listen through the door!" I said. "Sorry, we just wanted to know what happened," Aaron said. The painting returned to the Lampton, and we had a great time in New York City. -writergirl555 :-)THE END-writergirl555 :-)